


textbook precision

by Nivena



Series: allopreening [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily Feels, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Bruce Wayne's A+ Parenting, Dysfunctional Family, Families of Choice, Gen, batfam, cassandra debuts in this chapter!, i wrote this mostly bc i couldn't remember which was the tibia and which was the fibula
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 08:19:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6846739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nivena/pseuds/Nivena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim and Bruce have a falling out. Dick and Jason are the resident experts.</p><p>alternatively: what the fuck is a tibia</p>
            </blockquote>





	textbook precision

**Author's Note:**

> i watched civil war today it was great and so badass and i loved it

"I need your help to break into Wayne Manor."

 

Dick took a second, then sighed. "Tim, what the actual fuck?" He asked, moving to the side to let his brother into the apartment.

 

"No, I'm serious!"

 

"Look, I know you and Bruce are kind of on the outs right now-"

 

"You do?"

 

"Yes, Tim. I live in the next city over, not country. What I was  _ saying  _ was, you may be in a disagreement but you can't do anything rash or whatever."

 

"I'm not gonna egg the manor or anything!" Tim scowled, taking his seat on the couch. Jason poked his head out of the shared bedroom.

 

"Who's egging the manor?"

 

"Neither of you," Dick glared, somehow at both siblings at the same time.

 

"You're no fun," Jason whined, walking over to the couch and leaning on it. Tim looked up at him and smiled brightly.

 

"Hey, want to help me break into Wayne Manor?"

 

Jason raised an eyebrow and looked over at his other brother, who had stood, arms crossed, in front of the couch for the duration of the conversation.

 

He shook his head. Jason tried the puppy eyes.

 

"Fine!" Dick threw his hands up in exasperation. In a tone of resignation, he asked, "Why are we breaking in?"

 

Tim and Jason shared a quick victory fistbump. "You're lucky I'm cute, Replacement," Jason informed him in all seriousness.

 

"You're not."

 

"Whatever."

 

Both brothers returned their attention to the youngest when he cleared his throat. "Um, Bruce and I kind of… had a disagreement."

Dick scoffed a bit at that.

 

"And, I left in a bit of a hurry because, you know, sometimes you just can't be around him anymore because he just pisses you off  _ so much _ , you know? And, uh, turns out I left all my textbooks there. And I have a test tomorrow. And those textbooks would be great because I kind of haven't studied at all? For the test? And I'm kind of freaking out right now?"

 

"Wow," Jason snorted. "You can tell he's a freshman. He knows when his tests are."

 

"Be nice," Dick warned. Turning back to Tim, his stance softened a bit. "How long has it been since you've eaten?"

 

"What? Uh… I'm not sure. I had breakfast?"

 

"Nice try. We have leftovers in the fridge. You like orange chicken, right?"

 

"Not to reject your hospitality or anything," Tim started, following his brother into the dingy kitchen, "but what does this have to do with getting my textbooks back?"

 

"Nothing, I just want you to eat something," Dick admitted, pulling out saran-wrapped styrofoam bowls out of the fridge. Jason followed them and hopped up on the kitchen countertop, motioning for Tim to join him.

 

"He's like the overly concerned PTA mom to Bruce's distant, emotionally clumsy dad."

 

Dick bounced a chicken nugget off Jason's forehead. He just shrugged, picked it off his lap, and ate it.

 

"Gross, Jay!" Tim whined, looking away.

 

"Hey Tim, what's your test  _ on _ , anyways?" Asked Dick, handing his brothers plates of microwaved rice and chicken.

 

"Bio," he answered through a full mouth.

 

"Great! Jason'll quiz you, I'll get your books."

 

"Hey!" The middle brother protested. "Why don't  _ you  _ help him, and leave me to get his textbooks?"

 

"A, you're taking biology too, and B, I'm the only one here with a driver's licence."

 

With that, Dick grabbed his jacket off the back of the couch and left.

* * *

"Dick?"

 

He cursed. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. Of course the Bat wasn't patrolling today. Of course Bruce just happened to come across him at that exact moment.

 

Luck was not something often on his side.

 

"Hey, Bruce," he rasped. He refused to turn to look at his ex-guardian's face, opting instead to continue to focus on searching the mess of papers on the coffee table.

 

"What… what are you doing?"

 

Shit. Bruce's footsteps were growing louder. Of course he wasn't just going to leave.

 

Dick felt his hand come heavily down on his shoulder and, without thinking, grabbed it and spun around, free hand coming up immediately to his surrogate father's throat.

 

They stood, frozen like that for a long minute, before Dick released his grip and stepped back. His left hand, the one that had been a misplaced twitch away from crushing his mentor's trachea, went combing through his hair. There was another tense silence.

 

"He was looking for this."

 

Both men turned to look at the welcome interruption, a powerfully built Asian girl holding a stack of textbooks in the crook of one arm. She proffered them to Dick, who accepted.

 

"You must be Cassandra. My," he snuck a glance at Bruce, "sister."

 

She nodded, then tilted her head to the side. Dick felt vaguely like he was under a microscope of some sort, or an x-ray. Like the girl in front of him could crack him open and spill all of his secrets out of his chest.

 

She held her hand out. "Cass."

 

After a bit of awkward reshuffling of the books, he took it. "Dick."

 

She nodded slowly, and then, as an afterthought, quickly smiled. Bruce cleared his throat, forcibly dragging all attention back on him.

 

"Are those Tim's books? What are you doing wi-"

 

Dick cut off, harsher than he intended. Bruce always brought that out in him. 

 

"He's staying with us. I'll be going now."

 

"How did you even get in?" His father demanded, and yep, that was The Bat Voice, sure enough. "You're not welcome here."

 

Damn. That hurt.

 

"Got in through the roof," he replied flippantly. "You should really up your security there. Never know when some whackos in costume might invade your  _ lovely _ home."

 

* * *

Dick can hear them arguing through the walls. He must only imagine what kind of torture their poor neighbors must be going through.

 

"I'm telling you, the tibia's the  _ shinbone! _ "

 

"And I'm telling you, you're wrong!"

 

Dick sighed as he reshuffled the books to his left arm, struggling to get his key into the door's lock.

 

"Honey, I'm home!" He called out, setting the extra textbooks heavily on the couch Tim had originally sat on. Noting the blankets piled at the edge, he quickly made a reminder to check if they had enough breakfast foods for three next morning.

 

Walking into the conjoined kitchen, he was greeted with the site of his two younger brothers sprawled on the floor, surrounded by papers full of Jason's cramped handwriting and arguing about leg bones. He brandished his hard-won prize, rewarded when Tim's face lit up. The current Robin rushed to his feet and hugged the eldest around the middle with enough force to pitch Dick back a few steps.

 

Jason watched Tim excitedly page through his notes ('i told you, Jason, it  _ is _ the shinbone!'), before looking over at his own older brother.

 

"Did you see tall, dark, and angsty there?" He whispered, slightly worried. Dick smiled reassuringly.

 

"Nah. Just called ahead and got Alfred to hand me these. Think he was on patrol."

**Author's Note:**

> bruce wayne is such a shitty father like he has his moments and no doubt he loves his kids he's just REALLY bad at expressing that and not even this feel good AU can fix that


End file.
